The Purge film series has taken a life on its own. What first started out as a good old-fashioned haunted house thriller under the premise of “what if all crime (including murder) was legal for one day a year?” has now expanded into a socio-political analysis of class and race. The second and third films Purge: Anarchy and Purge: Election Year further expanded the world built in the first film, showing not only the purge outside the scope of one little house, but society as a whole.
Having three films gross more than $319 million off of a $22 million budget (the Blumhouse way), it’s a no brainer that they will continue to tell stories in this alternate universe. There’s already a TV series in development. Before the TV show comes, a prequel film will hit theaters next July. The Purge: Island will focus on the first try of the Purge as an experiment and will take place in Staten Island, NY before it became a “national pastime” in the film series. With no time to waste until it hits theaters, the film has just cast its leads.
The Tracking Board has just learned that Y’lan Noel and Lex Scott Davis have joined the film as the leads. While Purge director James DeMonaco wrote the script for the prequel, he’s passing the reigns off to Burning Sands director Gerard McMurray for the upcoming prequel film. Noel has recently gained popularity on the hit HBO show Insecure where he plays Daniel, an off again on again love interest for the main character Issa. Davis first burse on the scene in Lifetime’s Toni Braxton: Unbreak my Heart and played a recurring role on CBS’ Training Day. The Purge: Island promises to explore the creation of The Purge and how the New Founding Fathers were able to manipulate things to make it come to fruition. The last two Purge films focused on ensembles, but the prequel intends to focus on the singular character William (It’s assumed that Noel will play the role) as he tries to survive the night.
The Purge: Island hits theaters July 4, 2018.
